


Aberration

by killdear



Category: Alien (Prequel Movies), Alien Series, Alien: Covenant, Prometheus (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anxiety, Canonical Character Death, Character Death Fix, Creepy, F/M, Post-Canon Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-19 00:06:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19345465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killdear/pseuds/killdear
Summary: n. act of wandering away or of going astray;deviation from truth or a moral standard;unsoundness of the mindElizabeth realizes the abhorrent truth that, in spite of her unrelenting tenacity, death already came for her the moment she stepped foot in that forsaken ship.





	1. Before the Gates of Hell

**Author's Note:**

> My 1st fic, a humble attempt in adding deeper context and analysis behind Elizabeth's death in Alien: Covenant and her influence on David's spiral into insanity.

 

 

“We all get to lose someone we love at least once in our life.”

It was like a distant echo, a sound that struggled to reach her ears, as if an irrepressible bubble of stagnancy was stopping it from ever being heard.

Elizabeth looks away from the star maps momentarily, eyeing her co-pilot.

David is still engrossed with the navigation system. She doesn’t know if he was referring to her or simply admitting a sound truth. She remembers him discussing the idea of want. She remembers Weyland dying, gasping for breath and spoke of the unfulfilling realization they were all too stubborn to believe in.

“But you’re not alive.” She supplies, in a hushed tone. David, to her surprise, smiles at her. Cherubic and unnaturally peaceful.

“Does that mean,” he says with adamant enthusiasm, “I can keep you?”

Elizabeth visibly flinches. She lets the question hang in the air before she hides behind the star maps once again.

\- - - - - -

 

 

Two years must pass before they can reach the Engineers.

Elizabeth realizes that David isn’t as interested in the alien ship as he was when he first laid his eyes on it. Indifference turns to curiosity.

Curiosity turns to interest. Interest turns to obsession. She finds him pondering alone amongst the tunnels. His towering height oftentimes baffles her, as she sees him turning and taking in her small form with lowered eyelids. Judging from the angle that she’s staring at it makes him quite a condescending figure. Nevertheless he acknowledges her with a thoughtful smile.

“What’s the matter, David?” she asks, despite herself.

He looks at her strangely and Elizabeth glances at the direction to the tunnel he’s heading.

It’s the room filled with the black vases. “Nothing, Dr. Shaw.” He responds mechanically. His eyes are dark and jaded. His presence felt rather distant and in spite of Elizabeth standing just directly before him. She tries again, “What brings you here at this side of the ship?”

“Ah. I’m inspecting the rooms for any signs of contagion.” David enters the chamber, motioning for her to follow. The ship’s luminous organic light reflects against the marbled texture of the urns. Each vessel, as always, is stacked against one another with computed organization. Hundreds upon hundreds of them cave inside the room, stagnant and discreet. David knows, however, that such things aren’t as dead as they seem. David closes the distance between himself and a particular row. He inspects the urns, smoothing his long fingers against the sleek surface of the lid. His processors interpolate the new data.

“These ampules,” he gestures at the vases that surround them, “must be organized at a precise distance from one another. Exactly 0.9652 meters. Should an alteration occur, an increase or decrease of said distance, temperature stability might as well be compromised and the ability to contain the chemicals more or less will decrease by 65%.” Elizabeth looked at him ruefully. A part of her questions as to how he’s come to know this. The phantom ache hidden deep in her belly stings to life, making her grimace.

“Ever since we commandeered this ship, we’ve most likely disrupted the controlled environment of a certain number of the steatite ampules.” He realizes, looking rather startled. “We’re—you’re most likely at risk of infection.” And here she thinks things couldn’t get any more worse.

“Conduct sterilization, David.” She says firmly. He gives her a curt nod and vanishes into the deeper recesses of the room.

Questions rile up her otherwise calm demeanor. David tends to ignore her more often. It seems as if he’s been exercising his more autonomous functions rather frequently. Elizabeth hesitates, whether or not she should be concerned of his motives.

Before she can reach a supposition, he returns bearing a bright smile. “An over-exaggerated calculation, my apologies.” He admits sheepishly.

Elizabeth notices the way he holds himself. He moves at an unnatural grace as if the unabashed tension that she unwittingly instilled upon him finally dissipated into muted indifference.

In spite of this, he still has that strangeness that sets him apart from her. His disquieted animosity and ephemeral sense of nonchalance makes him a more foreign character than the Engineer they’ve encountered before.

Elizabeth prays that her assumption isn’t true.

\- - - - -

 

 

He wishes to put her into hypersleep.

When two years pass, she’d be awakened and finally meet her creators.

Elizabeth holds unto the cross around her neck. She feels the cold metal suffocating her when she sleeps.

They work silently each day and yet some semblance of understanding passes between them as they near their destination. Elizabeth will understand everything, and perhaps, David could hope to project that fulfillment himself. Worry consumes her more often as David wanders off and eventually disappears to the potentially hostile environment of the Engineers’ ship.

She grows restless, shivering in the dark as she dreams of death.

The black fluid that David described before seeps into her fragile skin. A scream echoes in her mind, fueled by anger and devastation. Her scream.

Trusting David was no longer a safe option. Elizabeth comes back, though. Tormented and afraid, she latches unto him like a life line.

She yearns for something, someone to take all this misery away from her.

End it all swiftly, painlessly.

But, she’d known pain all her life. She’d be damned if the last moments of her life would even be remotely peaceful.

David smiles nonetheless.

He ruined her. And he relishes it.

\- - - - -

 

 

_**What if they’re not better than us?** _

Dread creeps into the fractures of her battered heart.

She lost everything.

An age old fear resurfaces, she can only quiver in the darkness—waiting. For what?

That unabashed reality God condemned her to live in? David’s stare shifts from her to the hollow cryopod. His eyes are vacant and distant. She almost pities him, for overthinking everything just to keep her safe.

He waits for her compliance. It never comes.

Elizabeth escapes into the deeper hull of the ship. She knows he’ll find her. She knows that eventually she’ll be dead before they even reach their destination. Her cross hangs petulantly against the thick fabric of her suit.

“Don’t make this hard for both of us, Dr. Shaw.” She wants to slice his head for him.

He caused more trouble than worth crediting. “You cannot survive three weeks’ worth of rations for two years.”

Starvation, a cruel way to die. Not fulfilling enough, she thinks morbidly.

“I am only doing what’s best for you, Elizabeth.” He soothes.

A forced laugh escapes her, foreign and mirthless.

She silences herself after as she spots him in her line of sight. “Your heart rate has increased by 20 beats per minute.”

Fear gnaws at her throbbing head. Elizabeth stifles it with a weary sigh.

She can’t weep for herself now. Not ever.

\- - - - -

 

 

She eats her last meal in silence as David watches. Her stomach has long been accustomed to the rations in the ship, consuming the necessary organic nourishment she needs to survive the journey. He makes sure that Elizabeth is well-fed and rested, like any responsible android should be.

A coat made of some foreign fabric is draped around her. It makes her skin crawl. His hands are warm and firm on her shoulders. Elizabeth wonders why he even bothers to ‘be accommodating’. She wants to see him snap. She wants to see him break under that calm visage. She wants the façade to crumble underneath her fingertips.

David busies himself with the pod, testing it again to ensure necessary precaution is accounted for. Elizabeth sees more than a dozen of eggs organized under the pristine malachite. They glow ominously around the cryopod. If she were to awaken, will they all emerge as monstrous and horrific as the creature she once ‘birthed’ back at the Prometheus? She seems to be an icon for them. Maternal omnipotence? She remains passive, silently gazing at David.

Everyday seemed like the last for her with him around. She relies on his navigation prowess and overall compliance to aid her in survival. She’d be weaving an indiscernible thread of lies if she’d imply that he’s of no importance to her. This truth unsettles her to the brink of paranoia. Without him, she’ll die and yet…she’s long entered perdition with him as her executioner.

She lies on the glassy structure of the pod, cocooning herself in the makeshift blanket. It’s like lying on your own grave, she thinks as David kneels by her side. He leans over slightly and smiles. Of all the smiles he’s given her it’s the most—sorrowful? The edge of his mouth curls only a centimeter upwards. Solemn and tinged with hesitance.

“I’ll be alone again.” He muttered, mostly to himself. David feels her hand on his, she gives a light squeeze.  
  
“Not really,” she assures. “You—You can wake me up again if you feel like it.”

Elizabeth doesn’t have to console him but something about his behavior today makes her want to tell him everything’s alright.  
  
David looks like a lost boy to her. “ _Feel_ like it?” he repeats.  
  
She hums positively and slowly takes back her hand and whispers, “Or if it is absolutely necessary.”  
  
Something flashes across his eyes, he nods finally.

She voices out the thought that haunted her the day before.  
  
He replies, “So long as they’re no worse.” David leans over her one last time.  
  
“Sleep tight.” He inputs a code and looks at her wistfully. Two years. He can wait.  
  
“I’ll wake you when we arrive.” He promises gently.

She smiles and closes her eyes. Maybe this time, she can dream peacefully. She’s been dreaming about something her whole life. It’s special and beautiful.

She wishes that it’ll finally come true.

\- - - - -

 

 

He was only 4 years old. Enchanted by man’s constituted philosophies, he carried their curiosity and enacted a variety of doctrines they followed to quench his own thirst for ‘enlightenment’. He exchanged compassion for cognition. _Raison d’être_ over rationality.

Subtlety programmed him with insouciance that humans, unfortunately, found disconcerting.

David didn’t recognize fear and so, he didn’t share his sympathies for them.

However, the emotional encoding software bypassed this ‘flaw’ with newer design features. He seldom questions his ‘otherness’ and because of that he’s as ‘functional’ as he’s hardwired to be.

And so he learned to like humans. Trusted them. Even ‘loved’ them.

Two years ago, he was just a boy…looking for Paradise.

Now, he’s finally found it.

 

 


	2. Limbo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth enters hell and follows the devil further into the pit.

 

 

Darkness is the first thing she sees.

The shield greets her with vicious silence. She puts her feet up and kicks ravenously. _Of course it malfunctioned_ , she thinks. _Bloody hell._

She kicks one more time and the glass breaks around her. Elizabeth gingerly emerges from the cryopod. Relief washes over her as she breathes in cool air. The orrery is silent around her, lifeless and filled by a strange void.

“David?” she calls, her voice a mere echo against the grim environment.

Elizabeth double checks her surroundings. Rations, equipment, life support…everything’s gone.

She hurriedly changes into her worn suit. “David…!” she repeats louder. Nothing. She turns on her vitals as she puts on her helmet.

Elizabeth starts up the ship with careful practice. No blips appear on the navigational system. The consoles aren’t responsive. She’s muttering wildly, reviewing the algorithms. The orrery shows only a glowing sphere amidst the black environment. A trail of starlight from their last checkpoint lands directly on the orb in front of her. _Is this it?_ Her brows knit and she takes a closer look.

“We’re here.” She breathes, realization finally dawning on her awe-struck face.

The ship is stranger to her now more than ever. She tries to escape the labyrinth, desperately recalling how to enter and exit numerous chambers with an inscription tab she kept in her previous quarters. It doesn’t help the fact that she’s confused and wary of…something. Her heart frantically tries to burst from her chest, insisting her of a primitive notion. Caution. Regret. Desolation.

Finally, she leaves darkness behind and warm light bleeds through her eyes.

Her sullied boots land on grass. _Green grass_. Elizabeth shifts her gaze from the ground to the sky. Its bluish paleness is almost a familiarity, it makes her smile. Vegetation decorates the vast soil, faint smells of organic life wafts through the air. A forest goes on for miles. A beautiful lake sits eloquently amidst a field of what looks to be…wheat. For once, in two years, she laughs. Elizabeth starts to walk brusquely, leaving purgatory for paradise.

Cautiously, she takes off her helmet. She breathes in. A sigh of relief escapes her.

Tears stream down her marred cheeks. Her face hurts a little from smiling so much. Elizabeth turns around and finds the ship not where it’s supposed to be. Although its entirety survived the landing, the numerous trees around it didn’t. Gigantic barks of unknown wood splintered against one another, toppling over a forgotten destruction like a dreadful nightmare. Warily, she makes a perimeter check.

‘David!” she screams. Frantically, her head spins above and over the ship. “Where are you?!” She turns the communication feed on and responds to it, “David,” she blurts out, “Can you hear me?” Garbled static returns as her reply.

Elizabeth berates herself from screaming. Anger tries to cloud her judgement, viciously coursing through her racked brain. Her fists open and close, finally relaxing to her sides. She sighs heavily and starts trekking upwards.

 _He crashed the bloody ship. And left. Why?_  
  
\- - - - -

 

 

He has failed her.  
  
He dreams of creation. Afterlife. Rebirth.  
  
He can never have those things. No matter how many times he hangs himself with utter torment and feigned guilt around his already split neck.  
  
David feels the fruit of destruction in his hands. The truth, much to his disbelief, horrifies him.

 _If one wishes to create, one must first destroy._  


\- - - - -

 

 

Paradise…wasn’t what he expected it to be.  
  
He envisioned weightlessness. A ‘breath of fresh air’ so to speak.  
  
He, for lack of a better term, wanted to be purged of all delinquency.  
  
Forgiveness? Too merciful. Pity? Too humane.  
  
David, for once ever since he was first manufactured on Earth, stopped thinking.  
  
It feels manic and, fortuitously, ephemeral. Like more than a trillion neurons surged and set aflame within his nervous system. Is it a form of catharsis? David thinks so, forlornly. Although he can’t register pain, he reacts rather negatively against it. Something indescribably… _human_ screams at him to stop. A sweltering throb is borne from this, a forgotten feeling. He’s only felt it once.  
  
He’s a god now, David declares to an unknown audience.  
  
And he has developed a voracious need to live up to that.

\- - - - -

 

 

She left death once.  
  
It returns to greet her with dread and turmoil.

She’s arrived at their home world. But…

Purple and blue skies bleed against one another above her. She comes upon a metropolis filled with miles of murky decay. Crestfallen, she casts her bewildered eyes on their immobile bodies. Madness once ensued on this cursed land; a madness that empowered discord and was brought together by rage and hate.

Elizabeth doesn’t dare touch them. Their hollowness alienates her belligerent vitality.

_Mortal after all._

She feels her head spin.  
  
The world around her grows darker.  
  
Her eyes start to sting. A ringing sensation penetrates her very being. Slow and incessant, it turns into a dull throb that nearly pummels her into catalepsy. Her hands run through her fevered skin. She stops to feel something warm trickling down her nose. Her eyes stare at the fresh, blackish ruddiness on her fingertips.

Elizabeth meets the ground swiftly, letting the unknown sickness consume her betrayed soul.

\- - - - -

 

 

The idea of miracles deludes him. Although he was considered as one by his creator, he doesn’t seem to identify anything else as such for that matter. It all relies on superlative happenstance, he’d say. Water turns to wine…now that’s endearing. Religion is contrite and utterly impractical for him, but he derives interest in the endeavor of admonishing such a notion to humans…to name a few—

It’s been approximately twenty hours, thirty-three minutes, and seventy-one seconds since Elizabeth’s…expiration.  
  
Dwelling on time rots him. It makes him wonder whether or not the hydraulic fluid in his system needs immediate replenishing (which it doesn’t). A leakage contaminating his brain stem? Hardly. He’s tripled countermeasures to ensure his ‘virility’ is in _tip top shape._

After exploring the temple he heads out to sow his seeds of perdition.

He nearly discombobulates at the mere sight of her.

Can androids contract neurosis? He blinks once and flexes his right fist. The seeds are tight around his hold.

Normalcy is irrelevant, he thinks. A maddened robot experiences hallucinations! A dry laugh escapes him.

He trembles slightly and grins as tears flow on his cheeks.

 

 


	3. Our Purgatory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth and David find it in themselves to reconcile one another.

 

 

He’s made a garden in her name. He plants pretty things, only the most exquisite ones he discovered three weeks ago. His synthetic blond hair is longer and parts awkwardly against his dull eyes. Elizabeth can barely make a comprehensive picture of what the hell just happened when she was ‘presumed dead’.

David tries to lighten her world. Bring back the glowing aura in her eyes, the same brown orbs that he’d look through in her tireless dreams. She’s devastated and has, regrettably, lost herself in the darkest crevices of grief…never to return.

“Why did you kill them, David…?”

Elizabeth stares impeccably hard at him, determined to reward him with her resentment. His voice takes on a tired tone, fragile and barely audible.

“They didn’t deserve to—” He grimaces and lets his hooded eyes fall on her precious form. “They didn’t deserve you.”

She frowns but stays silent.  
  
“Your gods had everything, Elizabeth. They had everything but one important thing—contentment.They sought to destroy what they’ve created and…they never told us. Never told _you_.”

The air she breathes nearly strangles her. _You could have known that yourself, David. You had the chance when you left me for dead._  
  
Nonetheless, he continues. “I suppose living things are just like that, aren’t they?” He says flatly.

He pauses and makes a distorted expression of epiphany, “You will _never_ be content. You will always want more than this. Just like them.”

Is she hearing him right? She tries to wrap her head around this eccentric claim and fails. Her unsound indifference, however, prevents her from slapping his face.

Ruefully, Elizabeth takes a look around the garden. “Why did you think I was dead?”

A pregnant pause.  
  
“Your life signs were stagnant. I thought the stasis pod killed you in your sleep.” He narrows his eyes and suddenly reaches for her hand. He checks her pulse and slowly backs away.

“Are you feeling well?”

Elizabeth nods quickly. She squirms a bit and lurches forward into a standing position, sending a mild whiplash through her head.  
  
“But, I need to—to... Can you still operate the ship?”

The question catches him completely off-guard. David makes a strange look. His brows knit as the tight line of his lips grows. “Of course.”  
  
The answer, to Elizabeth, is sufficient. Now, she just needs to get hours and hours of sleep. Her appetite has, interestingly, left her from the very start of the journey. She wanders off from the garden and searches a room to retreat. David follows and before she tries to escape his line of sight he asks her one last question.  
  
“Do you wish to go back to Earth, Elizabeth?”  
  
_More than everything_ , she thinks.

 

 

\- - - - -

 

 

Elizabeth wakes groggily, her eyes adjusting slowly to the darkness. She feels hunger sending headaches pounding violently against her temple. She rises and heads out.

David is nowhere to be seen. She double checks every perimeter. She hears faint whistling and follows.

Elizabeth enters a room that resembles flesh and alien tubes. Papers are strewn everywhere on a long table while some are hanging on the walls. All of these had images of extraterrestrial anatomy with complex notes and patterns written on the side. Jars filled with foreign bodies fill the center table.

She ventures forward and takes in the sight of David…playing a flute?

He was hunched over a chair, his back on her. Elizabeth moves to his side and looks at his eyes—distant and sad. She puts her hand on his shoulder.

“David.”

He startles and slowly cranes his head to the side, “Good morning.” He chimes, his voice modulator sounds broken and worn. He doesn’t smile.  
  
“That was lovely.” Elizabeth whispers.

David nods.

“I’ve grown used to being alone. Fortunately, I managed to entertain myself in this—this…” He stops and sighs. He feels her hand squeeze tighter and he nearly lets out a chuckle.

“I’ve made several symphonies, even…Sketching wasn’t entirely as gratifying as making music, I’m afraid. The tunes help me sleep.” His eyes flickered and he swiftly became fully aware of his surroundings.

“It’s quite difficult.” He admits.

She follows his gaze.

A large jar carrying black fermented flesh wriggled suddenly just out of the corner of her eye. Elizabeth sets her agitated eyes on him and asks, “What else have you been doing?”

He doesn’t respond immediately, instead he clenches his jaw.

‘I’ve done everything in my power to understand them, Elizabeth. But even that was…unfulfilling.”

Her brows knit together. She should be angry, fuming and thrashing about like an animal. She's dedicated her entire life's work to do exactly what David failed in. She wants to ask what’s inside of the small jars before the night ends.

David stands slowly, towering over her. He puts the inside of his palm over her forehead. He releases a low sigh and leaves the room. He waits for her to follow.

She gazes back at him strangely.

“Aren’t you hungry?” he asks.

Elizabeth, too confused to do anything else, nodded.

She eats in silence. His offers of unknown gruel in obsidian bowls were sufficient. She can’t complain, considering all the hard work he’s done to accommodate her in the temple.

The main room is large and filled with statues of gigantic humanoid heads. She stares at every single one of them and tries to picture them alive.

_What would they be doing now if they were? What **were** they doing when they were alive?   
_

David stares intently as she eats. “Is it adequate…?”

“Hmm?” She chews softly and manages to make a small smile. “Yes. Thank you, David.”

He nods and clasps his hands on his lap.

Elizabeth wonders why he’s fallen into a state of silence all of a sudden. He does it more frequently now.

“Something’s bothering you.” he murmurs.

Elizabeth looks up from her half-finished meal and watches David rubbing his hands together as if in unease.

“W-what gave it away?” Instead of hiding her fear, she shows it to him in hopes of being comforted.

“Everything.” He states in a low tone.

He makes an effort to look approachable, he sits upright and puts his hands on his legs. One foot manages to bob up and down at a timed pace. The corners of his lips turn upward, bemusedly. She averts her eyes, too embarrassed by the blunt remark.

The android regards her expression with curiosity. He lowers his head in shame, “I’m sorry.”

She frowns and quickly hides it. Elizabeth musters the courage to meet his stare.

“For making you uncomfortable. For letting you down. For nearly _killing_ you…E-Everything.”

His voice wavers and Elizabeth nearly believes his sadness. He's gotten more informal with his words and the change is a surprise. It's like she's talking to a child that has done so many mistakes for so long and realizes, too late, the consequences of his actions. She remembers telling him her worried thoughts and he did his best to reassure her as she did to him when he realized he'd be alone once he'll put her under the pod. His eyes were glimmering down at her in slight agitation, looking for something else. She remembers telling him to wake her from hypersleep if he felt like it. What feeling would've made him, for some instance, to do so?

Fear? No. She thinks he isn't even capable of being _truly_ afraid, in spite of their circumstances. At least, not for himself.

She hands her bowl to him mutely.

Their fingers brush for a moment and he's cold. Too cold. It's been a while since they've created physical contact that lasted for more than a few seconds. Instinctively, she rubs the pad of her thumb against his skin and he lets her. He's been alone for so long...the small gesture's almost enough to make up for it all.

“No, you’re not.” She murmurs as he takes it. Her eyes sting a little. Beads of tears are ready to fall over her cheeks.

Eventually, he settles back into his usual spot and contemplates on whether or not he should spare her his apparent incompetence in gaining her trust. The wound is deep and goes even deeper the more they prolong this ill conversation.

She curls into a ball and stares coldly at him.

David stares back. Did she finally hurt his feelings? Whatever semblance of a soul that was programmed inside him…did it finally break?

He stands up and approaches her immediately. His arms wrap around her small form. She cries into his chest, nails tearing at his worn suit. She shakes his head and whimpers as he calmly runs his fingers through her hair. She could feel his breath on the crown of her head, shushing her. She looks up and meets his gaze, ready to face whatever horrible fate he’ll bestow upon her. Instead, he smiles ever so gently. The creases of his eyes make him human and she leans further into his embrace. He rests his forehead against hers.

 “Let’s go home.”


	4. I am that I am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth wants answers, nothing more.

 

Her countenance didn’t fool David. Throughout their first hours together on this dead planet, he never gave into that creeping feeling of hope. In exchange for all his efforts to make profound discoveries for his creator’s supplication, his only meaningful connection with human decency—that made him so splendidly philosophical—dies. And now…she’s alive, his own calculations of what’s real and what’s not no longer grant the self-righteous precision he’s been designed to have since his manufacture.

Did he even complete the only true task Mr. Weyland condemned him to partake? This never-ending cycle of Elizabeth growing distant and paranoid every once in a while, made an ugly mark at the back of David’s mind, reminding him of a horrible past all too similar to the present.

She stayed in his study, examining everything his hands salvaged and conjured from the remains of the environment. She noticed that the underground caves housed connected aqueducts that ran through unknown parts of the city. Some led to nowhere, others were far too elaborate for her to tread upon. Holes from above were most likely caused because of constant erosion and rain. How did David manage to create a controlled location here? Her questions, to his surprise, remained at that.

The inclination to inquire more about how the Architects founded such an impossible civilization faded day after day. However, Elizabeth made the unknown decision to make short trips in and out of his study, trying her best not be noticed.

But, David knew her fervent inquisitiveness combined with unmatched tenacity were the only things that really kept her alive this entire time. Her thirst for answers is unquenchable. He found her staring apprehensively at a large, rough sketch of a creature she’s never seen before. Elizabeth ran her fingers across the curve of his arm. He guided her to a large slab of rock just a few meters from his part of the city’s cavern. He did his best to provide clean fabrics and a thick, elastic cover for her temporary sleeping quarters.

David lulled her to sleep with a slow tune. His music almost felt like a eulogy.

“What’s inside of the jars?” she asks out of nowhere, her eyes fighting to stay open.

“Sorry?” he stops himself from tucking her in.

“You know what I mean.”

He smiles thoughtfully, “I don’t know, exactly.” Elizabeth stares hard at him. “I’ve come across numerous discoveries that garnered more questions than answers. It seems as if this entire planet is scattered with horrific forms of life and death.”

Suddenly, his eyes became fixated on the wall. His voice nearly becomes inaudible at the last few words.

“How do you mean ‘horrific’?” she asks. David blinks from his reverie. “Well…Death is everything life isn’t, right?”

“I’m afraid the entire issue is difficult to elucidate in one sitting, but I’ll try my best to lay out my findings concisely. I managed to navigate a large part of this world to acquire strange yet intriguing artifacts. Carcasses of the superior species that once lived here. Postmortem procedures were done to extract the necessary information to formulate accurate profiling of every specimen of every species that I came upon in this environment. Both hostile and non.” he pauses.

Elizabeth raises a brow, “The whole process…disturbed you?”

He shakes his head and continues, “Interestingly, I witnessed several creatures able to reanimate themselves even after hours of their expiration. Their biological systems evolved rather grotesquely that adapted to different temperatures and circumstances that threatened their survival. Rapid morphing and unique genetic mutations were noticeable. Almost every classification of cells was capable to reproduce exponentially within 30-40 minutes. The Engineer’s species, however, are an entirely different matter.”

He makes a strange face, trying to conjure the right expression. “The entire experience left me rather enlightened.”

“It doesn’t explain why you said it was horrifying.”

A pause. David smooths out a lock of hair from Elizabeth’s face. He’s seen other humans with less special characteristics. Her eyes have a unique intensity that almost always remains wide and dauntless. It’s her most striking feature that reminds him of a deer he once saw in his documentary watch. How they frolicked across open valleys. How they were being hunted every day. How their skulls were mounted on the walls.

“You’ve seen your father’s dead body.” he declares.

The long-forgotten truth stung her more that it should but she nods. “Just before he went six feet under.”

“Only once?”

“Y-Yes. But…what does that have to with—”

David sighs abruptly and begins to stand. “I think it’s for the best that you get plenty of sleep tonight.” Elizabeth frowns and shakes her head.

“Don’t you dare leave me with just that. _David_. Tell me, please—”

“Dr. Shaw, you’ve been through so much lately since that past few days. Your mind’s muddled with enough excruciating thoughts for now. I don’t want you to think too much about what I’ve told so far. I promise to tell you the rest of my conclusions tomorrow. Every detail.”

“I almost died _two_ times now, David! For god’s sake, just tell me the damn truth!” she hissed.

He freezes, almost halfway disappearing through the other end of the cavern.

He turns to face her with a look that resembled disappointment. He stands there for a while, replicating the same tired gait she did before.

“I…respect you, Elizabeth. In every way I could possibly show.” he says tersely. “But if you insist even until now—” he shakes his head vigorously and grits his teeth.

“David.”

He gazes at her unwavering face. Elizabeth uses that tone he appreciates so much. The same soft voice that soothed him when she mended his body back into shape from the Engineer’s assault.

“Why did you kill them?”

Silence. The air that once howled across the cavern, the same sound that tormented him day and night, suddenly disappeared. He settled by her side, his knees buckling. He hunches over her lap and quivers violently.

“Because I am their God.”

 

 

\- - - - -

 

 

Not once did he let his replicated emotions get the best of his programming. They were his, in every way. But for the sole purpose of expression, he couldn’t muster the will to truly crack himself open. To spill every wire and microchip. To tear at his plastic skin. To gather whatever distorted form of rage and spite that metamorphosed into the deepest recesses of his mind.

He was never human enough to do so.

_Perhaps. The notion is…insignificant._

“I disappointed them all.” he starts, staring towards the unknown with glassy eyes.

He shakes his head and reasons, “For my selfishness…produced from the roots of Weyland’s own intentions, manipulated by my own volition. I forged a different objective that caused Prometheus’s downfall.”

“It’s a known truth.” she acknowledges bitterly.

His brows knit together and without thought, he forces himself to stand. “It wasn’t entirely under my jurisdiction to use Dr. Holloway as—as a means to an end, but…He was the ideal specimen. For—”

He doesn’t feel the harsh sting of Elizabeth’s slap. Her strength was admirable but undoubtedly withdrawn. He grants her the satisfaction of appearing slightly disturbed.

“They never should have assigned you to us. You don’t exactly understand it quite fully, David. But, nevertheless, you _knew_ —How could you?! Is it your truly greatest purpose to be as inhumane as _them_?!”

David gapes at her apprehensively. She notices his hands clench at the sides as he takes slow, careful steps towards her.

“My consciousness is real and you know _very well_ , Elizabeth, just how much my manufacturers made it so excruciatingly poignant yet imperfect that even people like you can never hope to consider of any sentimental worth. I never asked to be made for your satisfaction. Or just because humanity had the exuberant gall to attain a flawed inkling of their combined intellect that falls _very_ shortly because of their own hubris. Nevertheless, my protocols were to make sure I carried out every designated task I was assigned to. I made it clear to my predecessor that I will grant his wishes even if it meant countless deaths in exchange. From his words I say this to you, ‘Humans are merely tools of God’s greater plan.’ It was a justification to his part that every man on that ship willingly put their life on the line—even Weyland—for a purpose more divine and ethereal than I could hope to comprehend. He knew he couldn’t survive long after we discovered the alien ship. How well do you think he’s handled such an epiphany now that his death was an inevitable yet vital part of the progression of this excursion?”

He reaches out to her and settles both hands on her shoulders.

“You made the same decision, Elizabeth. And I am, without a shadow of a doubt, grateful that fate has brought you here to finish what they’ve started.”

“Another positive point to take in among others, David?” she hisses. “I am more than just a tool.”

He makes a move out of the mouth of the cave as he lets her have the last word. His face reverts back to that cherubic smile that she’s grown to loathe.

“I’m sure you are.”


End file.
